Crown Values

DRIVE(n):  Crown is a driven company.  Driven to make a difference in the world, a difference for our customers and a difference in the lives of the colleagues who make up Crown.  DRIVE is not only an acronym that represents our values, but it is a core value in and of itself.  From the very beginning, Crown was founded to make a difference.  To be relevant.  This original purpose of the company has lived throughout all of the iterations and evolutions of the firm.  It's the one thing that will live on as long as Crown lives on. 

Each and every one of you and the ones who came before you (our alumni) have put your fingerprint on Crown.  Your fingerprint on that little something that is driven to make a difference in this world.  A difference for you, a difference for our customers and a difference for our customers customers.  As we kickoff Crown Camp 2013, we wanted to reinforce our purpose and values.  For it is these that represent who we are at the core.  These are the things that will never change.  As part of thinking through Crown Camp, we were inspired to revisit our original values.  As a result, we changed a few to better represent our actual core values and replaced the ones that were temporary or just simply table stakes for being in business.  We've asked 5 of your leaders to talk through these core values and they've asked 5 colleagues to join them to share a short story about each value. 

As you reflect on these values and begin to internalize them, I'd like for you to consider the following last 2 paragraphs of "Great by Choice" from Jim Collins:

When the moment comes - when we're afraid, exhausted, or tempted - what choice do we make? Do we abandon our values? Do we give in? Do we accept average performance because that's what most everyone else accepts? Do we capitulate to the pressure of the moment? Do we give up on our dreams when we have been slammed by the brutal facts? The greatest leaders we've studied throughout all our research cared as much about values as victory, as much about purpose as profit, as much about being useful as being successful. Their drive and standards are ultimately internal, rising from somewhere deep inside.

We are not imprisoned by our circumstances. We are not imprisoned by the luck we get or the inherent unfairness of life. We are not imprisoned by crushing setbacks, self-inflicted mistakes or past success. We are not imprisoned by the times in which we live, by the number of hours in a day or even the number of hours we are granted in our very short lives. In the end, we can control only a tiny sliver of what happens to us. But even so, we are free to chose, free to become great by choice.  -- Jim Collins, Great by Choice

Dedication:  Dedication gets at the heart of our company.  Crown ends up attracting and retaining colleagues dedicated to bettering themselves, dedicated to bettering our customers, and ultimately dedicated to our vision of eBusiness that makes a difference.  Dedication can be seen on the smallest of small tasks and the biggest of big initiatives.  In the end, we are as a whole dedicated to serving the ultimate master: our client.  For it is our client who ultimately determines if the value we provide is worth of the price we charge. Crown is Dedication!

Relevance: Crown exists to make a difference.  A difference in the lives of the people who work here.  A difference in the businesses of the clients for which we do work.  A difference to the communities where we work. And, a difference in the world in our own little way.  We rely on this value to determine who we hire and who we ultimately choose as clients.  Life is too short not to work with people aligned towards making a difference.  Staying true to this value is true north for many decisions made at Crown.  Crown is Relevance!

Inspiration: With synonyms such as exciting, intoxicating, mind-bending, mind-blowing, rip-roaring and electrifying -- we thought inspiration was the perfect value to describe those who are attracted to Crown.  People who inspire are the ones who defy their destiny (so to speak).  They are living proof that people can overcome anything.  At the core of Crown is a pervasiveness that we can do anything you tell us can't be done.  In the end, inspired people through a driven organization can do anything!  Crown is Inspiration!

Velocity: Velocity is speed and direction and is at the core what we provide to our clients.  This is why clients are attracted to Crown and why they rely on us.  We help them determine Point B and then get them from Point A to Point B faster than they can do themselves, faster than their competitors can, and faster than they sometimes can even imagine.  Crown is Velocity!

Excellence: Excellence is the standard of performance to which we alone hold ourselves.  It is a standard that is unusually good and surpasses ordinary standards.  There are four main excellence pillars of our business: Partner Excellence, Account Excellence, Delivery Excellence and Talent Excellence.  These four pillars, when acted on in unison, support our ultimate goal of Client Excellence.  For it is through these excellence pillars that we have our competitive advantage.  These excellence pillars serve to create and sustain our competitive advantage through ultimately driving superior value to our Clients.  Crown is Excellence!

No Assholes: Need I really say more...